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Allin-Khan was born in Tooting. Her Polish mother had been a singer in the Polish girl group Filipinki, who met her father, originally from Pakistan, while the band was on tour in London.[7] The couple separated after having two children, and Allin-Khan's mother worked three jobs to support Rosena and her brother.[7]

She went on to complete a Master's degree in Public Health specialising in Global Health and Emergency Humanitarian Assistance. Following this, she spent many years working as a Humanitarian Aid Doctor in the Middle East, Asia and Africa. She also worked in rural Australia as an emergency flying doctor.[citation needed]

Allin-Khan was a councillor on Wandsworth Council for Bedford ward in Balham, and previously served as deputy leader of the Council's Labour group.[7]

Allin-Khan was selected as the Labour Party candidate for the Tooting constituency, after the seat was made vacant in May 2016 when the sitting MP, Sadiq Khan (no relation), resigned when he won that year's London mayoral election.[8] Allin-Khan won her seat in the House of Commons with a swing of 7.3% from the Conservatives, after a campaign which emphasised her working-class roots and Polish-Pakistani heritage.[10] When the election results were announced in the early hours of 17 June, Allin-Khan dropped her planned victory speech; in its place she read a tribute to Jo Cox, the Labour MP for Batley and Spen who had been murdered on 16 June, the day of the by-election.[11]

On 9 October 2016, Allin-Khan was appointed Shadow Minister for Sport.[6] In that capacity, she was the Labour Party spokesperson for issues including the protection of young people from sexual exploitation in sport, and has spoken out against homophobia in sport.[citation needed]

Allin-Khan retained the Tooting seat in the 2017 snap election, with an increased majority of 15,458 votes.[12]